Exaudi Nos et Misrere
by Nagumo
Summary: Replacing the fic Gabriel with this one. Wedding bells toll and the happy future is made. The shadowed truth of mothers, fallen knights and the past. The final resting place of memories for Marco, for Lyserg, for Meene...
1. The happy wedding

I do not own Shaman Kings or any of its characters.

Please do not sue.

(Personal note)

About Marco. I don't know whether to A) strangle him B) give him a hug (because he is obviously a messed up individual) or C) just simply make his life a living hell. 

Honestly, I don't actually hate him. In the anime, I could tolerate him. Heck I liked him in the anime, to a certain extent. But the manga version (of what I've seen so far) of him simply frightens me. Especially when he wears his short shorts (that made me want to gouge my own eyes out) and which he forces Lyserg to wear.

Please forgive any errors in this story. No one wanted to beta-read it. And if think Marco/Meene is odd, please blame my friends. I.e. saw a screen shot of Meene, saw a screenshot of Marco (shock: looking relatively normal). Combine them together and… 'wow. She looks nice and so does he. Who are they and why are they dressed the same? Are they like Jessie and James from Pokemon?'

This story takes place about twelve years in the future. Meaning Marco is 39. Lyserg is 22. Jeanne is 20. Etc.

This is an AU fic.

It was a beautiful wedding. The bride wore white, the groom dressed in black, but lacking the proverbial proud father to look on, the nearest equivalent of one would be Marco Innocenzo Testarossa glaring murderously at the groom, then shifting his murderous glare at a certain wedding guest and then looking faintly teary eyed at the bride.

"…Marco... People are normally happy during weddings," Porf informed the former captain of the X-Laws as idly picked at the plate of salad in front of him as Marco continued to glare murderously at both Lyserg Diethyl and Asakura Hao by alternating between the two in almost perfectly timed ten second sequences. Lyserg smiled nervously when Marco turned his attention on him while Asakura Hao simply stared back, looking particularly smug, sipping on a wine glass at the same time.

"I think Lyserg has got the message that if he hurts Jeanne-sama in any way, he will die so slowly and painfully that being stuck in a room with Hao the Destroyer for all of eternity would be a relief, Marco," Meene piped up as she smiled serenely at the two newly weds at the main table while keeping one hand on her right thigh holster which was home to a .38 snubbed nose revolver loaded with rubber bullets... Just in case. It wasn't quite a coincidence that Meene sat right across the table in front of Marco where she had the perfect line of sight either. Similarly, Marco was seated between the two largest former members of the X-Laws, Venstar Ryan and Larch Demantere, as a precaution. Also, a further incentive to encourage him to do anything rash, the Mother Superior and the nuns from Marco's mission were seated at another table next to them. This was all at the behest of the former leader of the X-Laws, Jeanne D'Arc... now Jeanne Diethyl.

"If I don't want to be happy at a wedding, that's my business... and will you please keep your hand off your gun," Marco requested sarcastically before he turned his steely gaze onto Meene who simply smiled back.

"Still the stoic 'Roman', Signor Testarossa. You are merely mad that I kept your time occupied while Lyserg went to propose to the love of his life. Besides you really need to relax," Meene shot back as she took picked up her glass of water to take good drink. The other X-Laws immediately tried to busy themselves with their plates. Meene and Marco noticed this quite easily.

"Might I also add that I am 'quite proud' at the other X-Laws 'great show of chivalry, bravery and honour' when we were supposed follow through with the plan, which I remind myself that I was the only one who did so," Meene drawled lazily as she gave her former comrade at arms slash co-conspirators a stern look.

"Well... hic, you seemed to be doing fine at, hic, the time," Denbat said. Though he tried not to show it, he cried throughout the entire wedding commenting how beautiful it was, to the point he was hiccupping... Much to the embarrassment of everyone else who wasn't quite sure how to handle it. The handkerchief that Cebin lent Denbat was in such a state of use, that Cebin thought it wise not to ask for it back in the end. Indeed the handkerchief was stuffed in the front pocket of Denbat's tuxedo.

"That doesn't mean I would not have appreciated some help. Where were you guys anyways?" Meene asked curious.

"Um... well, I'm not sure any more what we did on that day... I can't even remember what we had planned to distract Marco," Larch answered truthfully and looked ashamed. Marco bristled and glared at Larch on his left.

"This coming from the man who came up with the grand plan..." Meene said faintly annoyed.

"The plan was to get Marco drunk... It wasn't exactly the most inventive plan," Venstar answered as he stabbed potato on his plate. Marco turned his glare to the right, where Venstar sat before he turned his eyes to his untouched plate of food.

"So you all conspired against me! Including Lyserg Diethyl... Only Jeanne-sama was the only one who didn't betray me" Marco said through gritted teeth as he picked up his fork and knife and violently attacked his meal. Then Marco looked at all his former companions in the eye. Most of the others kept their faces calm and relaxed when they realized Marco hadn't quite figured out the reasons or person behind that particular incident or the wedding seating. It was quite unfortunate that while most could keep their face from reacting from Marco's comment, there was one person at the table who could not.

Cebin, for a brief moment, wished he still had the mask he wore in the past. That way no one could read his face as they could now but ever since Asakura Yoh had resurrected him and restored his burnt off face as it was before his run in with Hao, his face was like an open book to everyone. It was now incredibly hard to win poker matches against Larch, Porf and Denbat because he couldn't keep his face muscles from twitching every now and then during the matches when he got good hands or bad ones. Marco easily read the look on Cebin's face. The corners of Cebin's eyes twitched in a curious way which gave away his nervousness.

Marco calmly put down his eating utensils and calmly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. That single action got his glasses in just the right angle to reflect the glare from the overhead lights and hid his eyes from everyone's view.

"Is there something that I should know about?" 

Usually when Marco asked a question, he sounds curious or perhaps confused. But the tone he asked the question was like the sound of hell freezing over. To understate, he sounded displeased. Additionally his glasses shined ominously, a sure sign that he was very angry.

"...."

That was the only response that Marco got as all the others kept on eating their meals.

"Are you all trying to suggest that perhaps Jeanne-sama somehow knew about your plans?" Marco asked crossly and all too calmly turned his unreadable gaze upon Jeanne Diethyl who was happily talking to Lyserg.

"Marco you can see how happy she is with Lyserg right? I mean it's not as if you can guard her for the rest of your life," Denbat said, unsubtly changing the subject.

"You're her legal guardian right? So you're like a father... that means she's like a daughter right? So think that you're not losing her but gaining a son," Porf offered.

"I don't want a son..." Marco answered calmly and mechanically began eating his meal in silence. His glasses no longer reflected the overhead glare and revealed his weary blue eyes.

"You at the very least want your daughter to be happy right? You do realize the only reason why we gave you shotgun shells for your birthday each year was because there were times you acted like some psycho overprotective redneck father who used a shotgun to keep her single... I imagine you appreciated the gift," Meene noted.

Marco looked up and glared at Meene annoyed.

"I would never presume Jeanne-sama as my daughter but yes I want her happy. This is why I haven't given Lyserg anything more than a warning not to make her unhappy." Marco decided not to comment on the shotgun reference. He was also quite frankly never going to admit that he appreciated the gift of six shotgun shells every birthday he had. It worked wonders scaring off droves of men away from Jeanne, except for Lyserg who seemed, strangely enough, more amused than frightened. Marco had developed the habit of shining up a shotgun and laying out the ammunition in the presence of perspective men as they waited to meet Jeanne.

  
"You mean you gave Lyserg another horrifying death threat. Not that it matters at this stage..." Meene said as she shrugged. She paid more attention to the bride and groom to ignore Marco. She completely missed seeing a blue haired man in a tuxedo stand up from his seat.

"It is my pleasure as the best man... hey!" Horo Horo began at the head of the dining table. Then he realized no one was paying attention to him. In fact everyone was busy carrying on their own conversation or eating and the bride and groom were no better.

"... Can one of you please tell me what happened in London between you?" Larch asked curious. Both Meene and Marco turned to glare at him. Everyone at the X-Laws table was far more engrossed in the brewing feud between Meene and Marco then in Horo Horo.

"No." Both snapped and looked faintly flabbergasted at the fact they were in perfect sync.

".... **_SEX!!!_**...." Horo Horo shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice carried well over the noise of people talking.... and into the hallway of the hotel where it echoed down its entire length. Many of the other guests in the hotel briefly paused in the hallway to try and discern where the shout came from. Tamao and Pilica reddened with embarrassment and Kororo bapped Horo Horo's head while everyone else finally paid attention to the best man for his speech. Lyserg didn't even seem to notice... Neither did Jeanne for that matter, Marco privately noted.

"Er... Well now that I have finally gotten your attention. I will have to ask the father.... err... guardian of the bride to propose a toast for the bride and groom... and please make it quickly as possible because the groom is currently making us all feel queasy by making googly-eyes to the bride..." Horo Horo said in a flat voice. He was dramatically trying to keep himself from gagging. Lyserg and Jeanne reddened at the comment and looked away from each other reluctantly.

"What?! I wasn't informed of this!" Marco said in a loud voice of surprise. He felt flustered as everyone eyes rested upon him and his mind was completely blank as to what to say.

"Well... Umm.... It is traditional at a wedding," Horo Horo managed to say without too much difficulty. 

Marco opened his mouth to protest but the look on Jeanne and Lyserg's anxious faces, actually more of Jeanne's anxiousness more than anything else, convinced him to make an effort. Marco gritted his teeth, stood up and lifted his wineglass stiffly. He remembered all so vaguely a wedding he had attended when he was a small child in the village of Ronamorium. The toast to the bride and groom was something he remembered quite well and at the end of the toast everyone threw their wineglass to the ground and shattered it. Other than that experience over thirty years ago, he had no idea what a wedding was like.

"Er... Well then. I know that I'm not a popular man with most of you and the fact that you actually tolerated me so far is amazing. You have my thanks for barely tolerating my presence and ire for making me do this. I am proud to see that Jeanne has grown to be a woman of exceptional character and very annoyed to see she has chosen someone to be her husband. A word warning to the groom, Jeanne is perhaps not the easiest person in the world to live with when it comes to getting up in the morning. Do you know exactly how many times she's missed class in the morning because of it? Other than that she is, I can only assume still is at this point, an absolute saint... Just don't wake her up too early for hell hath no fury than a sleep deprived woman. As the groom will soon discover tomorrow morning..."

Everyone blinked... Did the infamously stiff and serious Marco make a joke at the expense of himself and his obsession/ward? It seemed too unreal to be considered. Jeanne just blinked while Lyserg looked on shocked. He all ready knew about Jeanne not being a morning person but he would never imagine Marco ever saying it out loud in public.

"So a toast while there is still time. To the lamp of love - may it burn brightest in the darkest hours and never flicker in the winds of trial. So let us toast the health of the bride; Let us toast the health of the groom; Let us toast the person that tied; Let us toast every guest in the room. So that the man or woman you really love will never grow old to you. Through the wrinkles of time, through the bowed frame of years. You will always see the dear face and feel the warm heart union of your eternal love. My greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years your love for each other will so deepen and grow. That years from now you will look back on this day, your wedding day, as the day you loved each other the least," Marco said in a slow voice so that everyone could hear and follow along. 

Needless to say... everyone in the room was shocked. Asakura Hao looked impressed. Lyserg and Jeanne's eyes widened at the same time. For this was the very same man who was virulently opposed to the wedding had made perhaps the most memorable of toasts they could of imagined. Marco, in truth, had to restrain himself from adding, 'and if you hurt Jeanne-sama in any way. You will die a slow and painful death, Lyserg Diethyl, at my hands'.

With that Marco and many of the other guests lifted their glass and drank their wine. The nuns from the mission refrained from drinking but offered up their glasses. Most set the glass down again without missing a beat.

SMASH!

Marco threw his wineglass on the floor immediate after drinking and found himself to be the only guest left standing with broken glass on the floor. He cringed with embarrassment. He quickly sat right down to avoid feeling even more of an idiot.

"... You haven't been to a lot of weddings have you Marco? Most wedding guests rarely ever do what you just did any more," Larch asked trying not laugh while the other guests at the table looked at the former lieutenant of the X-Laws curiously. Many guests also tried not to snicker except for Anna who simply furrowed her brow and made a mental note to make sure the bill for the broken wineglass was put on Marco's bill and not Manta's.

"Well... That was really great but I bet that that speech was stolen from somewhere. Oh well, you wouldn't have imagined this was the very same guy the X-Laws and us had to tie up in chains and rope," Horo Horo noted and moved on with to the next toast. Marco fumed at the reminder of what had happened to him three weeks ago. He couldn't, however, feel remotely insulted of being told he stole the speech… He did steal it, so there was no point in feeling indignation over the accusation.

"Now for the groom and bride to make a speech," Horo Horo announced. Waiters went around refilling the wineglasses once more. Or in the case of Marco giving a newly filled wineglass to replace the one he shattered.

Lyserg smiled widely and stood up from his seat. He helped Jeanne to stand up besides him.

Lyserg started off his speech.

"First off... I'd like to thank Marco for not killing me and giving that fine speech at our wedding. It was hard sacrifice for him to do, I'm sure and one I am sincerely grateful for... Even if we had to convince him rather brutally to get him to agree. It is great to see all our closest friends here at our wedding... Except for Manta who is picking up the bill for dinner, is completely distraught. When he saw the guest list, with addresses in most of Europe, Japan, China as well as the four corners of the world, he was delighted, since he felt sure that most of you wouldn't make the effort to turn up. It's to his credit that you would never have guessed by looking at him that he is, in fact a broke, or rather a broken, man."

Most laughed at the thought of Oyamada Manta being completely broke. Manta could do hundreds of weddings for his friends without fail because of his wealth.

Lyserg sneaked a kiss on Jeanne which caused Marco glare at him. Jeanne spoke after Lyserg.

"I suppose I must apologize to Marco for all the stress he had gotten for the last few weeks. The news of engagement to Lyserg must have added a few wrinkles and grey hairs on him. Not too mention the events before the wedding. But I can tell you all now that I am happy beyond all belief. Thank you Pilica for being the bridesmaid and thank you Yoh for being the ring bearer. I suppose I should also apologize to all the women in the world for removing one of the better men from the market. I'm sure I won't be trading it in for a better one."

Lyserg could only grin while everyone laughed except for Marco who looked flabbergasted at how improper Jeanne sounded. It appeared Marco was not going to only get more than wrinkles and grey hair out of the wedding... He was currently eyeing the champaign that the waiters left on the table and reached over to pour into his glass. Both the bride and groom sat down afterwards and made, in the words of Horo Horo, googly eyes to each other. 

"Ahh! So it's my turn at the execution block, eh? My speech is going to be short and sweet. First off, I believe we can all say we are finally happy that Lyserg had finally gotten the balls to propose to Jeanne and piss off the pedophile of the X-Laws at long last. I can remember the time when Lyserg tried to pretty much kill us all after joining the X-Laws and we mastered the Chou Senji Ryakketsu... We kicked some serious ass against them."

Marco choked on his champaign and spewed out the alcohol back into his glass.

"... Perhaps we should start fitting the coffin for the idiot," a voice belonging to Tao Ren said not too silently.

Marco glared murderously at the blue-haired Ainu while the rest of the X-Laws internally debated letting Marco rip the offending best man's head off. They decided, without even talking or looking at each other, not to… no matter how tempting it was. Jeanne would obviously not appreciate bloodshed at her wedding.

"Anyways I'm not up here for that. After hearing those two great speeches from the fa-... guardian of the bride and the bride and groom, I wonder if I can even begin to measure up to them. But who cares! Our hopes that you have a wonderful wedding and lots of sex after being disrupted so many times by everyone! And don't look so innocent Yoh. You're the one who walked in on them the most out everyone. Cheers to the bride and groom!" Horo Horo announced and lifted his wineglass to make the final toast.

Horo Horo's best man speech began and ended soon enough. It earned the Ainu unpleasant looks from the X-Laws table but other than that everyone raised their wine glass and toasted. Even Marco didn't go against the spirit of the crowd and raised his glass reluctantly for the bride and groom a final time. Though in truth he wanted to throw his glass down on the floor again and strangle Lyserg Diethyl. His hand clenched the glass tightly and his eyes burned with resentment and anger upon Lyserg… but Marco heard the familiar click of a gun's safety being removed and the shuffling sound of two very large men inching closer towards him. Thus he was deterred from murder… barely.

"And now for the bouquet to be thrown... So let's get ready to rumble!" Horo Horo crowed and watched the main floor for single women to take to it. The last time at Yoh and Anna's wedding when the bouquet was thrown all the women started a brawl to try and catch it. Even the normally sedate Tamao proved to be... rather 'desperate'? No, too weak of a word. More like completely utterly ruthless and vicious when it came to catching the bouquet. In the ended the bouquet was grabbed by three different women at the same time and caused it, for a lack of a better word, explode. It was however thoroughly entertaining to him and he cheered them all on. Though afterwards proved to be a different matter between him and the said women competing for the bouquet.

Marco simply slugged down another drink and another…. And another… He pretty much had a complete monopoly on the champaign at the X-Laws table. No one moved to deny him of the alcohol because a drunken Marco was infinitely more desirable than a murderous Marco.

"Um... Horo Horo, there's only one single woman here... Meene-san. Jun, Tamao, Pilica and Anna is pretty much engaged or going to get married in a year, already married or generally not single… And I don't think we can count the nuns from the mission or Jeanne's classmates either," Lyserg said and looked at the X-Laws table on the other side. The nuns, who were close by the X-Laws, smiled serenely and waved to the head table. Horo Horo had forgotten that the previous wedding had happened well over five years ago.

"Oh wonderful. If I can't catch the bouquet of flowers with these odds, I'll seriously consider joining the convent," Meene muttered and found that her voice traveled a bit further than she thought in the room. Everyone heard her words.

'Oh great, I hope no one tries to hold me to my word,' Meene thought to herself sarcastically. She got up from where she sat and tried to smile at Jeanne.

"Just throw the bouquet to me Madame Diethyl," Meene said and waited for Jeanne to throw it. With a nod, the Jeanne threw the bouquet in a wide arch and thought nothing of it... until at the zenith of its flight, it got caught in the whirling fan blades on the ceiling which then proceeded to tear the bouquet apart. Meene on the other hand just stood at where she was and cringed. The flowers from the bouquet rained onto the ground and laid there. Meene stood perfectly still for a moment and then quickly sat back down at her table and just tried to massage away a headache that was building.

Mother Superior Charlotte, an old spry woman of 65 years who sat close by Meene, leaned back in the chair to tip it. She came practically face to face Meene and gave a wry smile.

"When should I expect you at the convent? You know that I think the habit looks good on you," the old woman asked jokingly.

"I will then have to avoid the convent if she joins and go on that relief mission to South Africa then," Marco said as he poured himself another glass. He was beginning to look faintly red in the face.

"Really now? When do you leave? After all we can't have you looking in on us while we're changing again, now can we?" Charlotte asked. The rest of the nuns, most no younger than forty tried to bite back laughs while the rest of the X-Laws, sans Meene, looked at Marco with a look of horror. Marco reddened even more and tried to say something to defend himself.

"It's… It's not what you think! I did not peek on them! Meene help me out here! You know what happened!" Marco babbled embarrassed. His glasses shined in the light hiding his eyes again but he looked more foolish than intimidating.

"I saw nothing, heard nothing, and know nothing of the sort of sordid situation you described…" Meene answered lightly. But her smile told a completely different story.

"…Here I thought you preferred younger women," Venstar noted privately. The rest of the male X-Laws went into pseudo-contemplation.

"It wasn't like that!" Marco said firmly. The looks on the other male X-Laws faces and other guests just made him give up the argument. He looked at his empty wineglass and then at the half-empty champaign longingly. He poured himself another drink to mollify his embarrassment.

"Er… Well… Congratulations! You're going to become a nun," Horo Horo said after watching the bizarre spectacle (and hearing way too much information about Marco).

"Next is for the single men in the room. The garter is going to be thrown and the prize is the rather attractive, but unfortunately way too old for me, Miss Meene. Come on men and get your act together! If you catch the garter, you get to pull the garter up her leg and dance with her!… Actually I wouldn't _mind_ catching the garter myself and dancing with her. For someone whose over thirty… but Tamao might get jealous and kill me," Horo Horo probably meant for most of his words to be said to said to himself. But having such a loud voice as he did and the way the room seemed to be perfect for amplifying sound, his words traveled quite a bit further than it would otherwise would. Tamao, who for the most part was sweet and reserved, had obviously picked up some pointers from Asakura Anna in the 'look of death tm' to put errant men in their place. She was currently giving one such a look to Horo Horo. Something that did not escape his, otherwise oblivious and dense, notice.

Larch, however, visibly perked up when he heard Horo Horo and his face was plastered with a slightly goofy smile which most people did not miss. Meene however did not see it as she simply buried her face in her hands in slight embarrassment and much irritation. The single men of the room stood up to take to the floor. The other tables had various male friends and co-workers of Lyserg that seemed quite eager to catch the garter and get acquainted with the only single woman in the entire wedding. Why the single male to single female, minus the nuns, ratio of the wedding was so out of whack was something no one actually considered until now. The blame ultimately rested upon Lyserg who simply just didn't know that many women and somewhat on Jeanne but she only knew nuns and a few female classmates who had boyfriends.

"I'm going catch the garter and dance with her!" Bokuto no Ryu announced in a mildly maniacal voice wrought from years of rejection from various women. Meene wondered if she could get away with shooting the one who caught the garter with rubber bullets.

"Come on Marco… You too," Porf said and snatched the champaign bottle out of the man's rather loving grasp. Most of the X-Laws cringed, held their breath and waited for Marco to explode with rage from being denied his drink. 

"All right… I just need to stand in the far side of the room where I can't catch the damn garter…" Marco muttered darkly and stood up from his seat. Apparently the alcohol had done its work and mellowed out Marco. The others let out a sigh of relief. Meene idly counted the men who crowded the floor and wondered if God was making fun of her. 

There were fourteen men on the dance floor and all waiting for the groom to shoot off the garter. Marco, true to his word, was in a corner of the room well away from the center. Larch deflated somewhat at the competition but looked nonetheless determined.

"Remember Lyserg, remove the garter from Jeanne with your teeth," Horo Horo reminded the blushing couple. Marco, though mellowed from the alcohol, developed a throbbing vein of anger and glared at Lyserg. 

Lyserg, for his part, seemed to gleefully ignore Marco and kneeled down in front a very co-operative Jeanne who had lifted the hem of her skirt so that the task would be easier for Lyserg. Marco sputtered with disbelief and decided that the source of all Jeanne's corruption was not the imperfect world in general. It was the close association of disreputable individuals and cads like Lyserg and Horo Horo.

The removal of the garter seemed like an eternity. Lyserg slowly removed it with his teeth, his mouth indecently close to Jeanne's inner thigh and was part way down when Lyserg finished the task using his hands. The two blushed but they seemed exceedingly happy (and for the X-Laws exceedingly relieved that Marco did not fly off into a rage).

Something clicked in Marco as he watched the two and he stopped glaring. He remembered some time in his past at the village of Ronamorium. Watching the wedding, the feeling of utter abandonment coming to the fore, as the ceremony was winding down to the last act. Everyone was so happy at the wedding and laughed but not him. How old was he? Four years old at the time? He did not laugh, how could he laugh? Everyone was trying to forget about him, he was the public shame of the village. The boy everyone wanted to be rid of and to forget. The public shame of the bride and the devil cursed boy of the village… His mother's mistake waiting to be erased. She laughed and hated him. She was so much happier now that she would be free of her shame, her burden and the village curse. He was going to be sent away to Rome, a place so far away it was like going to another world to a village boy like him. One beyond his world of the spirits in the fields, the dead; the things that only he could see.

Marco looked on Jeanne and Lyserg and felt tears well up but they did not fall. 

'Now I remember why I hate weddings, lucky me,' Marco thought bitterly.

There was a roar of approval and laughter from the crowd of the past, matching the wedding party of present.

Then something landed on Marco's face. A very silky, silvery something on Marco's face that vaguely held the scent of Jeanne. Marco snapped out of his stupor and stared at the garter that crowned his hair and batted his face. He almost breathed in the garter. 

"That's not bloody fair! Why didn't anyone turn off the *&$%ing overhead fans!" Larch complained loudly. Larch looked devastated and Marco immediately summarized what probably had happened in his head.

The groom fired the garter in the air. The garter in mid-flight got caught in the forsaken over head fan and, instead being ripped into pieces like the bouquet, was spun around a few times before it was launched to where he was standing. In other words, it was dumb luck, sheer utter dumb luck that allowed him, against all odds, to 'catch' the garter. He was not amused at all.

"…." 

Marco did not know what to say. Meene looked at him oddly. The wedding party went silent.

"There we have it folks! We have the lead man and the lead woman," Horo Horo announced.

"It's too late to run away isn't it?" Marco asked calmly but made no move to remove the garter from the perch on his head.

"Yes it is and even if you did, we know where you live," Horo Horo cackled.

Marco removed the garter from his head and seriously debated running away anyways. Meene made no move to get up from where she sat.

"Sometime within the next few minutes or this year, which ever comes first, would be highly preferable," Tao Ren dryly observed.

"Please Marco, we need someone to lead the dance with us," Jeanne said.

Meene got up from where she sat reluctantly and walked over Marco who seemed ready to either cry or run away rather than put the garter on her despite the plea of Jeanne.

"Marco? Hey? Are you there?" Meene asked as she waved her hand in front of his face. Marco noticed Meene was standing before him.

"… I loath you…" Marco stated flatly. Meene blinked.

"… I am so glad…" Meene answered in an equally warm voice.

"… Right leg…" Marco stated as he stretched the garter out and kneeled down.

"… Can't…" Meene answered embarrassed.

"Why not?"

"You know why…"

"… But this is for the right leg only. It looks weird on the left, not to mention it has got to be uncomfortable."

"… Are you being difficult on purpose to spite me or are you actually drunk?"

"A little from column A, a little from column B."

Sigh.

Meene lifted the hem of her skirt on her right thigh up where everyone could see her gun holster and the fully loaded gun. The enthusiasm of seven men who wanted to put the garter on her was reversed immediately. These men decided that they would rather not put it on her any more. On the other hand the other X-Laws, who were fully aware of Meene's habit of going around fully armed with something, were not surprised. In fact the enthusiasm of Larch to put the garter on her grew as did his despair that Marco got to do it instead.

Marco on the other hand felt completely humiliated and embarrassed. He really wished he was drunk, that way he wouldn't feel like such an idiot. Meene looked as though the situation was just as humiliating as it was for him. Most people in the crowd were quiet as they watched. After all, Meene's and Marco's 'enthusiasm' was quite evident from their brief exchange of words.

Hoping to lighten the atmosphere, Lyserg made a gesture for the band to start playing music for the dance. Lyserg and Jeanne led each other to the floor and smiled, while Meene and Marco looked as though they were contemplating jumping off a cliff rather than dancing.

"Hey, do you know how to dance?" Marco asked quietly to Meene.

"Yes… Do you?" Meene asked back.

"Yes… But I am not imitating how Jeanne and Lyserg are dancing," Marco answered. He observed the couple were a bit too close together for it to be decent.

"Fine, just keep one hand on my waist and the other on my shoulder. I'll keep mine on your arm. Let's get this over with as soon as possible," Meene said as she arranged Marco's hands on the areas she specified. Once they were done they awkwardly tried to slow dance. The danced well, very well in fact. Better than anyone in the room. It appeared that the years of ballet that Marco took went well for ballroom dancing. That and Meene was forced to study dance during her childhood. 

"We're a lot better at this than I thought," Marco stated.

"I've noticed. Unusual since we are a match made in a significantly warmer place than heaven," Meene observed.

"You're no prize winner yourself," Marco muttered. He couldn't help but let his eyes wander back to the bride and groom and twitch at how indecent they both look. Meene noticed and rolled her eyes.

"Marco… They are married now. Get over it and be happy for once. You get to be their children's 'grandfather' I imagine," Meene said.

"That only makes feel older than I really am. And I'm supposed to be happy? What do I do now?" Marco asked. He looked at Meene miserably and she couldn't help but take pity on Marco.

"Three words. Take a break. When was the last time you went and watched a movie? Ate sorbet or drank coffee at a café in your free time and not between some break from work. Heck, when was the last time you gone on a date?" Meene asked.

Marco thought for a moment and drew up a complete blank in his memory. 

"I don't think I have ever been on a date," Marco answered truthfully.

"… Marco… You are a very, very lonely and sad man," Meene observed surprised by his answer.

"I know."

"…I changed my mind. Let's do the next dance as well."

Meene smiled. Marco frowned.

"Why?"

"I want to keep you from drinking for as long as possible. You want to be sober enough to do the last dance in the end with Jeanne right? That and you don't step on my feet."

*****

The wedding was over and Marco thanked God, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mother Mary for that. He danced with Meene for the most part, danced a brief bit with Jeanne in the end and sat down to drink the rest of the champaign. If there was ever a time he wanted to drink himself into a stupor, tonight was the night. Of course, now he had exceeding trouble walking in a straight line but he wasn't going to admit that or the fact he needed help getting home.

The party was a blur. Events, jokes and talking were way over his heads. But he did remember having a particular interesting and enlightening conversation with Tao Jun about various incredibly painful torture techniques. He had to admit, while he was very knowledgeable of the subject, he didn't have quite the breadth of knowledge of the subject that she did and was surprised at just how vivid her descriptions of some of the tortures were.

In the end, he found himself in the company of his former comrades in arms as he exited the hotel. All who were drunk and simply staggering about talking about random items.

"I wanted to dance with Meene! Why did you hog her for the entire night Marco? You knew she was on the single woman in the entire place" Larch whined rather loudly. He leaned heavily on Marco's shoulder and hung there for a few seconds.

"It was her idea. She wanted to keep me from drinking… Long enough so I can do the dance between the father and bride bit," Marco answered, without slurring too badly.

'I am not drunk, I am not drunk. I am a bit tipsy but I am otherwise fine,' Marco chanted to himself while trying to ignore the signal from his stomach to throw up.

"That's not what I think," Porf slurred and kept his balance by leaning on a wall. Venstar valiantly and futilely attempted to keep Cebin walking towards the car waiting for them outside. It didn't help that they were, mostly, very drunk.

"I think there's something going on between you two and don't get me started on how well you two danced," Denbat announced gleefully.

Marco frowned. Larch looked angry. Porf smiled. Cebin and Venstar could care less.

"Okay! I demand to know what happened between you two in London!" Larch said angrily.

"Like hell," Marco muttered. He unceremoniously dumped Larch from his shoulder, who promptly fell to the ground. He took up a lot of space and Denbat promptly tripped over him.

"You okay?" Venstar, the only sober male X-Laws, asked.

"I'm fine… but where is Meene?" Larch asked in a daze.

"She went to have a talk with Lyserg and Jeanne I think," Cebin answered who was literally being carried by Venstar like a child.

"Here's my car guys. I'm going to make sure you get home. Are you going home too, Marco? There's not that much space in my car" Venstar asked as they all approached the extra large car waiting outside the door. He put Cebin in the back seat. Denbat followed after Cebin and took the middle seat of the car.

"No… I guess… I'll just stay here for a moment and talk with Jeanne before she leaves my life," Marco said quietly.

"Ahh… Okay then. Take care," Venstar said as he picked up Larch from the ground and stuffed him into the backseat of the car with Cebin and Denbat.

"We'll see each other in two months for the reunion right?" Porf called out happily as he took the front seat and closed the door. Venstar started the engine and sped away to drop off his friends.

"Til next time…" Marco said to himself more than to anyone. He turned around and walked back into the hotel in a languid pace. The wedding hall was empty since the vast majority of the guests retired for the night and his feet was the only sound he could hear. As he approached closer and closer to where the wedding party was he heard talking. He stopped suddenly and listened closely. It was obvious that he had come in to the middle of the conversation and was missing quite a bit of information but he heard it.

"Meene, this has got to be a joke! Did Marco know about this?" Lyserg asked angrily. It was an ugly tone, one full of despair.

A silence followed. Marco simply stood where he was and tried to make sense of the conversation.

"I don't think you should blame Marco about this in any way. I honestly don't think that he even knows about it. He's obviously too ignorant, and cares too much about Jeanne," Meene said. Marco blinked and wondered what anything had to do with him.

"I wonder now since you've told me. I have this terrible feeling that he would probably encourage Jeanne to go into the Iron Maiden anyways… Just like how you kept this a secret," Lyserg responded with venom.

"Hey now, I like him as much, or as little, as anyone else but he isn't completely without morals or compassion. Besides he's too much of a justice freak to be so secretive. Everything he does is obvious in purpose and intention. I can't say the same thing for myself though."

Marco wasn't sure whether he should feel flattered or insulted by Meene's rough sketch of his personality. The course of the conversation, plus his inebriation, made it seem incomprehensible to his brain. But he kept quiet, unsure what to say next or what to do next.

"…I thank you for the truth, Meene-san. But I am going to live for as long as I am able to. No matter what happens because I am alive and I have an entire future I want to live out. I will live," Jeanne stated with the pure undeterred conviction that drew people to her.

"Chris said the very same thing before she died. I believed her but she died anyways," Meene said quietly.

"Lyserg… Let's just go now. I want to go now. This is our wedding night, I don't want strangers listening to this," Jeanne pleaded with urgency, as though what Meene said broke something within her, to Lyserg. Marco suspected he had been sensed by Jeanne and felt immensely guilty for just standing around and listening. He wanted to tear into the room and demand an explanation but lethargy weighed down his arms and his vision was beginning to get fuzzy.

"Yes Jeanne. It is our wedding night. It's supposed to be the beginning of our future," Lyserg said gently and soothingly to Jeanne.

"I…don't think you should see us any time soon… We need time. Time to think and time to live," Lyserg said bitterly. It was a bitterness that made even Marco wince and he could only imagine how Meene must have felt being the target of it. Marco heard the retreating footsteps of two people and the sound of a door opening somewhere. Then a soft click of the door closing and silence. Marco waited and waited until.

"I don't know who you are but if you don't show yourself in ten seconds, you will be introduced to my gun," Meene said in a threatening voice that seemed quite unlike her. Marco gave a start and walked into the wedding hall. He could see the remnants of the wedding waiting for the hotel's cleaning staff to start cleaning it up. The white, red and green confetti littered the ground, he remembered vaguely throwing the pieces of paper into the air when the party 'officially' ended. The guests all began exiting in streams since Anna officially declared that the newly-weds wanted privacy but were too polite to ask everyone to leave. So she took the responsibility of kicking everyone out and when Asakura Anna orders you to do something, you do it.

Meene stood in the middle of the room with her simple white summer dress and her hand reaching for her gun. Her eyes widened as he came into view but he didn't notice her distress. He was suddenly looking at the ceiling and blinked. He had fallen, could not seem to be able to get back up again. Meene's concerned face was over his in a few seconds. Her footsteps echoed in the room.

"Marco! How much did you hear? Never mind that! How much did you drink?" Meene asked her voice hovered over the edge of panic. It wasn't every day she saw the 'Roman' collapse for no apparent reason.

"Enough to make me wonder what the hell is going on and why I just had to drink so much tonight," Marco managed to say but the world decided to black out on him soon afterwards. Thus leaving Meene with an unconscious man on the floor.

"You just _had _to black out on me right now of all times didn't you?"


	2. The Painful Morning

I do not own Shaman King. 

I think I made a mistake about the age.

If Marco is 39, this takes place 12 years into the future (2012). Similarly that means that Jeanne is 22 and Lyserg is 26. Meene is 31. (arg… numbers are killing me)

I am aiming for humor and some occasional bittersweet angst.

Similarly… (read Patch Archives and BBS) There are some details of the manga that completely undermine this fic entirely. In fact I went to a BBS and discovered a lot things wrong with this fic. I'm almost tempted to completely delete this fic in fact. But since this AU technically...

AU fic set twelve years in the future.

Exaudi nos et misrere: latin for 'Hear us, the wretched'

Marco dreamed that night. The darkness that claimed him in the beginning, quickly brightened to reveal blue skies and golden fields of wheat. The countryside he had been born to as a child, was swaying around him in the warm early fall breeze. He stood in the sea of wheat and stared across the distance where he could barely make out the farmers reaping in the harvest. The smell of crushed grass and last blooms of the seasons were in the air. He was barefoot, he couldn't remember when he had removed his shoes but he did not care at this point. He was content with staring at the sky and it's slow moving white clouds. He vaguely recalled trying to see patterns in the various clouds formations as he laid there when he was child. He felt utterly at peace, though he was just usually skipping out on his work on the crops when he did this. 

Marco stretched his adult body on the grass and listened to the silence. The sun was going to set soon and the hints of the darkening sky could be seen as could the red tint coloring the clouds. The purple of the skyline was starting spread.

He had always imagined that this was what heaven looked like as a child. An Elysium of unparallel beauty, where there was no hurt or hate. The farmers in their fields tilling the land by hand and the sound of running water from the river to lull him to sleep. Clean air and the warm dying rays of the sun upon his skin.

"Marco! Where the hell are you!" An ugly shout echoed from the fields. It was a deep, powerful voice used to shouting and arguing. Marco could not help but cringe and try to bolt. Every time he heard his step father's voice, he couldn't help but feel helpless. He couldn't help but cringe and hide behind something to try and avoid the heavy fist smashing downwards towards his head. But Marco was an adult now, much taller and much stronger than his step-father. He would simply smash in the man's face if tried anything. With that thought in mind, Marco rose up from his place.

"There you are, you little runt!" 

Powerful calloused hands grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and picked him off the ground like a puppy. Marco winced in pain and looked at the familiar red face of his step-father. Marco found that he was suddenly the weak, short four year old he once was. Thin arms and legs and an even thinner body, as his step-father described him 'a filthy German runt' or some such effect. Marco was the only one in the entire village with blonde hair and blue eyes. He never recalled seeing anyone else with similar features as his. But that was lost upon Marco as he stared his step-father. Unable to break the powerful hold on the scruff of his neck and feeling the exhaustion in his limbs from overwork and lack of food. His clothing were no longer the suit and tie he usually wore, but were the old hand me down clothing of Signora Aguilera's children. A detached feeling of rage and terror gripped Marco as he soon quickly found that he wasn't in control any more.

Adamos Testarossa was not a big man compared to Marco, in his prime adult years, but he was a broad man who terrified him as a child. His dark hair and eyes were of a healthy luster and his mouth was open showing yellow teeth. The man's entire body was tanned brown by the sun and hard work in the field made his body hard and strong. A man that Marco could never hope to hurt or fight back when he was four years old.

"Where the hell were you boy! I thought I told you to not wander off, can't you even understand that! You're as useless as you are stupid!" Adamos snarled and threw Marco on to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I was just…" the child Marco began desperately trying to find a way to ward off his step-father's fists.

"Why can't we just send you to Rome now," Adamos muttered and gave Marco a death glare that he would copy latter in life.

"They… They have to find someone to take me in," the child Marco said as he tried to stand up.

"Like anyone would take in something like you. Why God must you inflict me such a sin?" Adamos asked the sky above him plaintively. The child Marco kept silent and tried not to cry at his step-father's harsh words. Was it his fault that he could see things that no one else could see? That he could hear the spirits of the golden wheat play in the light breeze or the river dancing and running? That he could talk to the old Roman soldier ghost Longinus Gaius Marcelus?

'This is a bad, dream I am going to wake up soon. I am going to wake up,' the adult Marco chanted to himself. He hated his nightmares, they were almost always about Ronamorium and his childhood. Sometimes he would have nightmares about how Hao easily killed Meene, Venstar and Cebin or when Luchist nearly killed Porf, Denbat and Larch but those were rare. And may they and God forgive him when he says this, but he almost preferred watching his fellow teammates get killed in a nightmare than dream about Ronamorium. Almost.

"I hate you," the child Marco said venomously. His hands were tightened into little shaking fists.

"And everyone hates you, what of it you ugly runt?" Adamos said contemptuously. With that the massive man turned his back on the child Marco and walked away. It suddenly became very dark and cold. Adamos was immediately swallowed up. The sun, the sky, and the fields of golden wheat were gone without a trace. They were replaced by the crowding dark walls of the cellar that Marco slept in as a child, he was never allowed to sleep inside the house. The darkness and silence Marco could handle easily but the sudden loss of the familiar feeling of life, of nature spirits, drove him to despair. Here his senses were muted by the dark. The creaking of wood above him was only the indication that there was indeed life outside the darkness. His mother and step-father was moving about their house but there was a third unknown pair of feet moving about above. 

Marco strained his ears to listen but all he could hear was the creaking of wood from walking feet and not words. Then all three people above him exited the house and Marco could hear no more above him. The darkness became terrifying now that the pathetic comforting sounds of feet were gone. It was as though he was the only one who existed in this dark and cold world.

The creaking of the wooden cellar door shot through the darkness. Marco remembered the glare of light and welcomed it. The light was good, it was warm. And there amidst the glare of the rising sun was the tallest man he had ever seen before. His eyes were dazzled by the light but he could see who stood at the top of the cellar stairs. Dressed in the black cloth of the clergy and wearing a wide brim black hat with the Bible in hand stood a powerfully built man with a tattooed cross on his chin. The priest's dark eyes cast a pained and pitying gaze upon Marco, so frail and small. 

Marco never forgot that day. He thought as a child that this was his deliverer from darkness, this man had finally come at long last to show him the way out and into the light.

"Here is the devil, Father Rasso…"

His own mother said those words. But Marco didn't hear them. His eyes were on Father Luchist Rasso.

"ARGH!" Marco yelled and awoke from his dream. The bright morning light filtered through a large window and just happened to land across where his eyes were. The sudden intrusion of bright light caused his throbbing head to protest, a sharp jab of pain reminded Marco of last night's overindulgence. He sat straight up to get his head out of the lights and found that his stomach protested to his sudden movements. He felt sick and he had a headache he never wanted for a worst enemy. He took a few seconds to let his head stop pounding and then looked around his surroundings and saw that he was on a coach with his clothes still on though his tie and shirt were loosened. The blanket on him fell to the ground when he woke up suddenly and his feet hit the cold wooden floor. He was in a bare living room that made him wonder if he was in an abandoned house but the sight of the crucifix hanging on the mantle of the fireplace assured him of otherwise. Not many people casually abandoned religious articles when they moved out in Italy. But there was almost nothing in the living room to tell him otherwise there were residents except for a small folding table with a chair. The table had his glasses resting on it and a small windup alarm clock with the hands reading the time as five fifty six a.m.

"A good morning to you to sunshine. You must have woken up the neighbors with that scream…" Meene said sarcastically. Her voice seemed to come out of nowhere and Marco sat on the coach confused. He took a quick look around the room again to see where she was and found that she was not in sight. Which left only one place left to look. Marco took in a deep breath and looked behind the coach, his blind spot, where Meene's voice seemed to come from. He was not surprised to see a disgruntled Meene sleeping on the floor in a white shirt and blue slacks. Her soft green eyes were narrowed in annoyance. Marco just blinked and stared. Meene was a bit fuzzy looking because his glasses weren't on him at the moment.

"It's been fifteen years since you've been kicked out of the order and yet you still sleep on the floor," Marco managed to say in his dry hoarse voice. He was in desperate need of something to drink and felt mildly guilty that a woman was sleeping on the floor and not him, not that he wanted to, but the principle of his conduct demanded that she should be made comfortable and not him.

"Old habits die hard. Would you have preferred it if I slept in the coach with you? There's not that much space you know," Meene asked jokingly, as Marco made a scandalized face, and sat up from where she slept. She stretched out her back as soon as she sat up. "I'm joking Marco… relax will you? I know you like waking up with the sun on you."

Marco wanted to collapse into the coach again but the sunlight was steadily becoming stronger and spread to different parts of the room. Sunlight normally would not bother him but it was making his headache worse.

"I feel terrible…" Marco said in his hoarse voice and tried to make sure his nauseous state would not cause an accident to happen on Meene's beaten up coach. He looked around for his glasses and found them carefully folded on the table which seemed too far away for him to bother with.

"I didn't see that coming… I'll get something for you, wait okay?" With that Meene got up and walked into her kitchen. The sound of cabinet doors, squeaking open, caused small vibes of agony in Marco's head. He could only imagine what a louder sound would do to him in his state. He didn't usually overindulge in anything. Last night was an exception to the rule that he gladly made before and now regretted.

'Last night… Something happened last night,' Marco's brain began to make the painful trip down memory lane to remember the events of last night. Something about being a 'justice freak' or some such thing.

"Here."

A glass of water was presented to him. Marco was so caught up in thoughts that he hadn't heard or seen Meene coming. He gratefully took the glass and drank the water but the buzzing ache in his head barely lessened.

"You were the first one asleep last night. Then you thrashed for a good two hours and making me lose sleep. Then you have the nerve of waking up first. I suppose I should be thankful you don't snore or anything," Meene said in a psuedo-annoyed voice. The mild grin on her face would tell most people she was joking but Marco knew that every expression of hers held another meaning. There was a trace of nervousness, well hidden, in her eyes but Marco could barely see it. He would more easily read her face if he had his glasses on.

"What?" Marco asked dumbly as he played around with his empty glass. He wanted more water and more time to gather his thoughts, Meene sensed this and took the glass to refill it. She always had been great at picking up subtleties and reading them.

"Never mind," Meene said as she left Marco to get some more water. It was then that Marco forced himself onto his feet and walked towards the chair and table to get his glasses. Every time his feet hit the ground, the vibrations raced up his body and into his skull where pain greeted each step. But he did finally reach the table without incidence and picked up his glasses. The world became much sharper and in focus now that he had them on.

"Have you ever thought of getting contacts Marco?" Meene asked conversationally as she returned with a filled glass.

"Hm? Not at all, my glasses work just fine. Why?" Marco asked. He drank the water Meene had given him quickly.

"No particular reason. I just keep on remembering the number of times you would break your glasses, lose them in combat, have them accidentally destroyed, throw them at the wall in frustration, etcetera, etcetera. I did lose count of how many spares you had on you during my time as a member of the X-Laws. Oh, that and you look better without them on in my humble opinion," Meene answered, she shrugged lightly and sat on her coach.

"Opinion noted and completely ignored," Marco muttered quietly. He set down the empty glass on the table after he drank it, his hangover was somewhat abating. He felt much better. Meene was staring at him with a raised eyebrow and Marco gave her a 'what is it?' look.

"You know Marco I think you are a lot more calmer now than you ever were before… or as calm as you can ever be," Meene smiled. 

Marco frowned and was about to ask what she meant by that exactly when an awful racket sent explosions of pain through his thoroughly abused brain.

RING! RING! RING! RING! RING! RING! RING! RING! RING! RING!

The clock read 6 a.m. Meene had forgotten that she had set her alarm clock at this time. She jumped in surprise and watched Marco go from a sort of calm grumpy man with a hangover to a maniacal psychotic one in pain before she could say 'oh shit'.

"ARGH!!!" Marco never had much patience when it came to pain. If he could stop the source of his discomfort, he would stop it immediately. Besides he felt terrible and he wanted sleep. He did not want to suffer through this torture.

SMASH!!! 

Ting… ting… ting…

SMASH!!!

………

Marco breathed a sigh relief at the blessed silence until he heard the clock a foolhardy but valiant attempt to continue.

Ting…

SMASH!!!

……….

Needless to say the clock wasn't going to continue on with it's suicidal mission any more.

"I can always rely on you to make me eat my words. I thought you were a morning person," Meene stated dryly, she looked at her deceased alarm clock and then shifted her gaze on Marco.

"Oh no… (pant) don't get the wrong idea… (pant) I like getting up in the morning… (pant) but not when I have a damn hangover," Marco was sweating badly and his headache had now blossomed to excruciating new levels of pain.

While Marco winced in pain, Meene strained her ears to listen to the faint sounds of approaching feet from outside. She sighed.

"Marco, you woke up the neighbors," Meene observed and prepared herself for the worst.

DING-DONG! DING-DONG!

The doorbell rang. Marco cursed it because it was unusually loud. The ringing bounced around in his skull, giving ample pain.

"ARGH!" Marco stomped towards the front door ignoring Meene's frantic voice to make him stop.

"Marco. Don't open it, damn it. I'll get it." Meene said as she chased after the irate man. 

Marco was, however, far too hell-bent on his mission. He was going to give Meene's neighbor a piece of his mind, never mind the fact he made excessive noise destroying the alarm clock and probably woke everyone up in a one block radius. He was in pain!

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!" Marco roared as he threw open the door and got in the face of the individual who had unwittingly incurred his wrath. What he expected to see was an irate man dressed in pajamas, perhaps with a stubbly chin and thin lips pressed together in annoyance. Marco was fully expecting to see someone angry. He did not expect to see one of the most beautiful women he ever laid eyes stand before him with a surprised look. Marco shut his mouth and stared at her. She was somewhat short, brown haired with dark eyes. The skin was flawless and her lips were red. Even though she was dressed in a simple blue sleeping gown and sandals, she was beautiful. And she was completely startled, staring at Marco like a deer staring at headlights.

She looked at Marco shocked and then panicked. Having an angry unknown man who towered over you and shout at you was not conductive to a wonderful first impression. Additionally, given the rather loud noises of things breaking and shouts of agonizing pain, it makes a person wonder. Her next door neighbor, Meene, was nowhere in sight and this blonde haired stranger was in Meene's house. Unable to say anything coherent Triela Posani reacted instead.

"EEP!"

  
SMACK!

Triela punched Marco in the face, which was far too close for her comfort. The little woman had quite a mean right punch. For a moment, he was dazed and then the world went black on him again.

Bang.

Marco hit the ground and Meene stood in her hallway watching the entire exchange. She buried her face in her hands trying to hide her embarrassment and annoyance.

"Who… what happened?" Triela asked surprised how easily she knocked out the large blonde haired man that shouted at her. She was relieved that Meene seemed to be unharmed and her heart was lighter with the knowledge.

"You hit his glassjaw…" Meene answered.

*****

The sun was about to rise in fifteen minutes and Lyserg Diethyl mourned his loss of sleep for the entire night. Jeanne slept in the bed and her even rhythmic breathing soothed him. Yet it was not enough, he was up and about, standing in a fairly chilly room with only his pants on. The hardwood floor froze his feet and he barely restrained himself from pacing about like a maniac. His feet would become blue and cold if he walked too much on the floor and slipping back into bed would wake up Jeanne. So he stood in the honeymoon suite of the Mecenate Palace and stared out the window to look at Rome's skyline.

Lyserg had a hard time reconciling the fact he was angry at someone he held in high regards. Lyserg thought he was ready for anything. He had duly prepared himself for anything that his friends could throw at him and from doing anything rash. Be it weird wedding jokes (read: morbid) from Faust; Ryu crying and doing a full throttle hug; the Yoh and Horo Horo giving him a ribbing about his sex life with running commentary from Ren; Marco trying to kill him during the wedding. He had even mentally prepared himself not to try and kill Hao who had attended the wedding. Though Hao's commentary about 'godly virginal Catholic girls' and how they were 'not really so godly and virginal' pushed him a bit too far, Lyserg was proud to say that he only said less than the standard amount of death threats to Hao whenever they met, which thankfully, were so rare he could the number of times they met after the Shaman Fight with one hand.

What he had not prepared for was Meene. Meene was supposed to be 'safe'. Meaning he didn't have to expect anything from her to upset him. In fact out of all the X-Laws excluding Marco and Jeanne, Lyserg kept a fairly close friendship with her. She was a lifesaver in the turbulent waters of his relationship with Jeanne. Mostly because she gave him practical advice and found ways to keep Marco 'occupied'. How she did 'that' was not something Lyserg ever bothered to ask. There were lots of things he had never asked Meene. Even when she briefly lived in Diethyl mansion for a year after getting resurrected because she had no other place to go. Lyserg never asked questions like why she had no place to go when the other X-Laws had, at least, family or friends to live with and such. Or why she was so unfamiliar with certain modern utilities (her attempts at cooking were to never be repeated… ever, so help him God) and other strange quirks that showed over that time. The thought never occurred to him to ask because he could see sometimes the shadowed pain and loss that flickered on her face when she thought no one was looking. As though she was always questioning why she had been brought back from death. None of the other X-Laws seemed to regret their new lease on life but her. 

Lyserg never quite grasped how little he knew of Meene until now. Like what was her last name or what happened to her family. Other than some very basic facts he learned about her during his stint as a member of the X-Laws and the brief year at his mansion, he learned very little about her past and personal life. He did however know that Meene was an orphan but he learned that piece of information from Marco, of all people. She kept her secrets close. 

And now, apparently, some of those secrets she held close to her chest were deadly or damning. It made him wonder what other secrets she was hiding.

"Lyserg…" Jeanne soft voice made Lyserg jump almost a foot into the air in surprise.

"Jeanne! You're awake! I mean…err… argh! You should be asleep," Lyserg babbled and spun around to see a pair of red eyes watching him.

"I know but the moment you got out of bed, I was awake," Jeanne said quietly. She pushed herself upright and looked at her husband. He had not gotten that much sleep, spending his time brooding and staring out the window. They should be in bed together, savoring each others warmth and closeness but it wasn't to be. Neither of them were in the mood to make love that night, so they slept together in bed. Lyserg made every valiant attempt to ignore Meene's words last night and show he wasn't affected by them. But the truth of his actions bled through easily. He could not rest easy.

Lyserg was afraid and resentful that someone, anything really, was telling him his happiness was going to be stolen away again. Jeanne did not blame him, he had always been so bitterly alone even in the company of friends but he was always striving for his ideals. She had loved him for that and she was not surprised by Meene's words as much as should have been. There had always been something hidden from her by the shamans associated with the church when they gave her Iron Maiden to use. She guessed that it was fairly dire but never as dire as Meene had described.

'Death is never far off for those who enter the Iron Maiden… Hao got it right the first time when he described it as the Iron Coffin,' Meene solemnly intoned.

Apparently, none who entered the Iron Maiden lived past the age of thirty. In fact, most died in their early twenties, often crippled with pain by this time as Meene explained. Jeanne had always wondered why she was never allowed to visit the previous occupants of the Iron Maiden the year before Jeanne was given possession of it. But now things were starting to make sense, her body's stiffness, her sleepiness in the morning when she used to rise at dawn, the shadow pangs of pain as though she was still in the Iron Maiden when she hadn't been in the bloody contraption for years. She had abused her body to a point that it was now breaking down.

Jeanne had meant to ask Meene if it was still possible to even have children. Jeanne doubted Meene knew the answer.

"I'm sorry Jeanne. I suppose I shouldn't be like this. We just need to ask Yoh to fix this problem up for us, after all he is the Shaman King," Lyserg said with a pained smile. Jeanne noted with sadness, that Lyserg didn't quite believe his own words. It was a tightly kept secret that Yoh had regretted his earlier charitable actions of resurrecting the X-Laws and other unfortunate victims of Hao plus Faust's wife, Eliza. Was it because he was swamped with thousands of similar requests from other people? No, it was because Yoh realized that he had broken one of the constants of this world. 

The constant of death. 

Hao had initially voiced his objections to outright resurrection of any of the unfortunate souls that the Spirit of Fire had devoured. At first, Jeanne believed that Hao simply did not want to deal with additional burden and guilt of dealing with his victims. That belief was quickly cast aside by Hao's explanation when Lyserg got angry at his objections.

'You can bend rules like I have but you cannot break them. Is it because death is unfair? No, quite the opposite in fact, death is ultimately fair. It affects young and old, rich and poor, the strong and weak. All are equal death and all are capable of taking life away from another. The capability of granting death is always going to be different. Death governs our lives, gives us drive to achieve our purpose and ends it. Only those who surpass death can avoid death but even then they are not completely immune to it. Go ahead and celebrate Lyserg-kun, it is possible to actually kill me permanently. But to bring so many of the dead back to life? Especially after four years from their time of death without prior preparation on their part? It is a request that none should grant… Please put down the scythe Dr. Faust, I rather like my arms.'

In the end Yoh felt that it was for the best if the people who were killed were brought back.

The resurrections changed Yoh profoundly and yet subtly. Jeanne wasn't sure what it was that had changed but amongst friends there was just something different about Yoh. Anna was tightlipped about what had changed.

It was enough to give Jeanne headaches. 

"Come to bed Lyserg, please? I rather miss you," Jeanne said suggestively. She smiled impishly as Lyserg was startled out of his bad mood. She made the decision that her honeymoon would not end up like this. This was the beginning of her marriage and she would damned if it ended up this way.

"Er, yeah…" Lyserg said as he slipped into the soft blankets of the bed besides Jeanne. She could feel his cold feet brush against her bare legs and freeze her feet. But there was a warmth that they both felt that was beyond the physical and they came closer together.

"Jeanne?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

Instead of speaking Jeanne pulled closer to Lyserg and kissed him fiercely.

*****

"Stop laughing at me, it is not funny," Marco said as he held the ice pack to his much abused head. The blessed cold relieved the worst of his pain but the dull throbbing of his jaw bothered him immensely.

"Sorry but the sight of Triela punching you unconscious is too much. You're what? 6' and she's barely even 5'2"," Meene said trying not to snicker. Triela looked completely mortified and gave worried looks to Marco.

"I'm incredibly sorry Signor, but when I heard loud crashing noises from Signora Meene's home, I couldn't help but investigate," Triela said as she soaked a towel in cold water. She wringed the towel and pressed the wet cloth lightly on Marco's chin. The attention that Triela was giving to Marco made him feel very self conscious. It didn't help that Meene was giving him grins that made him want to say something rude but because Triela was present he stopped himself. His eyes quickly caught a flash of gold on one of Triela's fingers. It was a gold ring of particular fine make with a single diamond in it.

"Well now you know he's not a burglar or anything. I'm just really thankful you're not Signora Henrietta, if she saw him and all, she'd tell everyone that I was having an illicit affair or something," Meene said sarcastically and rolled her eyes expressively. Marco looked mildly paranoid.

"Who is Signora Henrietta?" Marco asked quietly.

"An old woman who lives next door and has too much time on her hands since her son moved out," Meene answered.

"She's just bored Meene. Ever since you've moved in she's had something to talk about," Triela said as dipped the towel in a bowel of water again.

"You mean she's been gossiping about me," Meene noted annoyed. She sat next to Marco on the sofa and rested her chin lightly on flat of her palms thinking.

"Um, are you sure your husband won't mind that you're here?" Marco asked Triela as she wringed out the towel in her hands. She froze at Marco's question and smiled painfully. 

"He would never of cared in the first place," Triela answered so softly that Marco almost didn't hear it. Meene elbowed Marco in the ribs swiftly and changed the subject immediately before he said something stupid.

"How is Donata? Complaining about anything?" Meene asked conversationally as Marco bowed over with pain. Triela smiled happily when she spoke up.

"Oh, she's doing wonderfully since you've been tutoring her. But she had a hard time sleeping last night. She it was because another er… what did you call them? 'Shaman' was close by," Triela answered Meene. Marco's pain was temporarily forgotten and his curiosity piqued.

"Your daughter is a shaman too?" Marco asked suddenly.

"Yes. Meene has been teaching her to control her abilities so doesn't feel so overwhelmed. I owe her a lot," Triela answered startled by Marco and looked at him closely.

"Are you the Shaman that my daughter detected?" Triela asked earnestly.

"If your daughter can detect Shamans then she must have detected me last night," Marco answered. His jaw began to ache again and he pressed the ice pack closer.

"Try not to use your jaw so much Signor…" Triela trailed off as she quickly noted that she did not know the blond man's name.

"I am Marco Innocenzo Testarossa, Signora Posani."

He held Triela's hand and brushed his lips on the back of her hand like a gentlemen. At this Triela blushed while Meene looked on amused. Meene decided to let the conversation flow since Marco was obviously taken by Triela. He had even introduced his full name to her, which was down and out rare. Depending on how Marco liked the individual, if he liked the individual he would introduce himself as Marco Testarossa. If he mildly disliked the individual it was just Marco. If he really hated the individual, it was just Testarossa and nothing else. If he introduced himself by his full name, it meant he liked the individual… a lot. Meene wondered why she would know this little bit of trivia.

"Signor Testarossa, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to knock you out…"

A stifled giggle came from Meene as she promptly concentrated at the situation on hand. Triela gave Meene a quick glance before turning her attention to Marco.

"Er, think nothing of it. I did startle you. Please call me Marco, everyone does."

Marco flashed a comforting smile but in truth his pride was a bit bruised by the reminder. Not many people knew but if someone hit him the face just right, he would drop like a sack of potatoes. He never would have expected such a slight delicate looking woman to knock him out. She had just hit the right spot to bring unconsciousness to him.

"I'm so sorry though. I really didn't mean to. I want to apologize to you properly but my daughter must be waiting for me back at home and I have to go look for a job…" Triela trailed off and stood up.

"What? No. Mea culpa," Marco said as he stood up too quickly and felt nausea rush to his head. He wanted to guide Triela out the door. However his hangover made itself known again.

"Whoa there Marco… Can't have you fall over again," Meene said as she forced Marco to sit on the couch. An amused smile twitched at the edges of Triela's mouth.

"As an apology Signor Marco, I will take you to lunch today at the café 'Gianosa'. My treat, I would very much like to talk to you further," Triela said with a smile. A mixture of curiosity and fascination in her voice. Marco had no time to discuss it further since his head ached terribly. Triela left Marco and Meene alone in the room and went home. The fading footsteps informed Marco that she was gone.

"To lunch! But she's married!" Marco said in an outburst. It startled Meene and she wanted to sigh.

"The way you were acting around her didn't tell me that you minded… Love at first sight, eh?"

"I'm too old for things like that."

With that Marco crossed his arms and gave into deep thought of what had just happened. Apparently he had been invited for lunch… that was a good thing. However, Triela was married… that was a very bad thing.

"She did invite you to lunch as an apology… I must say, I haven't seen her so alive until she met you."  
  
"… Stop giving those looks. She's a married woman! I'm not going to do anything with another man's wife."

Marco looked indignant and looked at Meene closely. Meene simply shrugged and decided to relieve Marco's conscience.

"Marco, she was a married woman. Her husband died just recently, I think about a month ago. I don't recall them ever getting along." Meene scowled darkly as she spoke. Marco caught the dark look as it quickly faded from her face but he was more enraptured by the fact that Triela was single… and recently widowed.

"Are you encouraging me to take advantage of a widow's grief? What kind of woman are you?"

"I'm not telling you take advantage of her! Sheesh! I'm the type of woman who encourages love, peace and happiness… and maybe a bit revenge on the side. Besides you're the one who said last night that you've never been on a date before. Here's your chance, don't screw up. Triela needs someone who can support her other than me, her daughter and the old biddy next door."

"But… But…"

"But what? Signor Marco Innocenzo Testarossa? It's not nice to skip out on a woman's invitation," Meene teased and gave him a sharp smile that told him, Meene would make his life a living hell if he skipped out on Triela's invitation. He shuddered at the thought of what Meene had planned if he skipped out on the invitation and hoped that it had nothing to do with laxatives.

"… I just can't win against women… Why is that?" Marco asked sounding amused and resigned himself to his first unexpected date. He sat down on the couch and found that his headache was almost completely gone… to only be replaced with a throbbing jaw.

"It's because have such an old fashioned sense of propriety Marco… It's outdated. Do you want me to call a cab for you?"

"Yes please. I have to call the Mother Superior also."

With that the taxi had been called. Marco quickly dialed the phone number of the Mission house.

"This is the Order of the Brigidine Sisters, who might this be?" Mother Superior Charlotte Beatrice Lancing asked in Italian as she answered the phone. Currently she was quite frankly a bit underwhelmed at the lack of presence filling the air of the mission house. Jeanne and Marco would be here by now and their spiritual strength would lighten the air and set the souls of people at peace. But Jeanne was not coming back and Marco was late. Which made her wonder if she should call the police just in case something did happen to him because Marco was never late. Ever, period.

The wedding had been beautiful and she hoped that Jeanne's mother, Catherine was looking upon it from heaven with pride. It was such a shame that Jeanne's older sister Christina was not alive to see it either. Lyserg Diethyl was no different also, his parents had perished long ago in a fire. Fuck it all, it was a shame that there was no blood relation whatsoever to see the damn wedding.

The Mother Superior knew using such foul language was unbecoming of a nun… but fuck that. She lived through the rebuilding of London, the Troubles and all that shit. She could swear mentally in her head where the only people who could hear it was herself and God… usually. She met a Shaman who could inadvertently read minds once and nearly gave the said Shaman a heart attack when he mentally heard the grandmotherly Mother Superior swearing up a mental storm that would make a sailor blush. But that was just once over ten years ago, so she assumed it was pretty safe to swear mentally in her head.

"Mother Superior, it's me. Marco."

Now there was a voice that Charlotte did not expect. He would usually be in the chapel offering a brief morning prayer before looking over the accounts of the Order and other such sundry things.

"Marco? Are you hurt? In trouble?" Charlotte began, sounding very worried.

"What?! I'm fine, I just wanted to request a day off for today… I won't be working with the Sisters for the day," Marco said baffled by the Mother Superior's questions as he got his jacket and wallet from Meene. The cab would be coming soon.

"… You mean… You're taking a break even though it's not Sunday yet?" Charlotte asked evenly and slowly. She tried to absorb the idea that the workaholic Marco was taking a bloody break. Even if it was just for a day he was not the type of man to simply take a break. Hell, he was adamant about returning to work with the Sisters right after the wedding and had practically refused all vacations offered to him for the last ten fucking years. Jeanne took more vacations then he did, though Jeanne had to fight tooth and nail to go on them alone… usually to London.

'Oh dear, it is the end of the fucking world… and I owe all the Sisters a chocolate,' Charlotte thought to herself as the Marco kept on talking.

"Yes Mother Superior. I hope this isn't too excessive of a request. If you want me to I can tell my… er… friend Signora Triela that I can't join her for lunch today," Marco was worried that Sisters was in need of his abilities as a Shaman or something else. 

To the disbelieving Mother Superior hearing Marco request a day off was like the Pope declaring that he was not infallible. It was uncharacteristic of Marco to take a break. Even for close friends and other such people. And he was also apparently going to lunch with a woman that not A) Jeanne and B) Meene. This call was obviously from a prankster and an accomplished voice impersonator. It almost had her completely fooled.

"… Who (mentally adding 'the fuck') are you and where is the real Marco?" Mother Superior Charlotte demanded immediately.

"Who am I and where is the real Marco?! Mother Superior I assure you that I am Marco. Why would I lie!" Marco asked startled. Meene at hearing this gave a raised eyebrow inquiry which he ignored.

"Taxi's here," Meene announced as it pulled up along the street and beeped it's horn.

"There is no way Marco would request a (fucking) break after working so (fucking) hard to keep working after the wedding. I know that you think (the prick) he needs to take a (fucking) vacation and get a (fucking) life Meene but imitating his voice (which is down and out freaky) and requesting a day off without his permission is a bit much. But you almost had me fooled this time (it was fucking brilliant). When were you so good at voice imitation my daughter?" Charlotte smiled and chuckled to herself. Oh, she had to tell the other sisters about this. She could always rely on Meene to do something amusing even early in the morning.

Marco was not amused since this was in no way a prank done by Meene. It made him wonder when the Mother Superior said 'almost had me fooled… this time.' He gave Meene a dirty look which confused the hell out of her.

"You better get out there Marco. Or the driver will leave… What are you looking at me like that for? I didn't do anything."

"Mother Superior I am not lying and I have to go since the taxi is here. I will not be seeing you today," Marco stated.

"Yes, yes Meene. You really are playing this up aren't you. This really is your finest effort to date so far," Charlotte said idly. Marco twitched as he set down the phone on it's receiver.

"Marco… are you all right?" Meene asked. She watched as Marco was between wanting to scream incomprehensibly in frustration and laugh hysterically at it all. He knew he was a workaholic… but he wasn't such a workaholic to the point that everyone at the mission assumed he would never take a day off? Right? Perhaps the hints from Jeanne, Lyserg and everyone in the X-Laws were really on to something.

"I apparently am not the real Marco since I asked for day off to have lunch with someone… It is also apparently my finest effort to date in trying to fool the Mother Superior as well…" Marco drawled as he gave Meene a meaningful look.

"Oh… Um… I suppose denial won't work right now, would it?"

"No… It wouldn't…"


End file.
